Latest news with #PalestinianMedics
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Israeli tanks kill 59 people at Khan Younis aid site in Gaza, local medics say
Israeli tanks fired into a crowd trying to get aid from trucks in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 59 people, according to medics, in one of the bloodiest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents struggle for food. The Israeli military, which has been at war with Hamas-led Palestinian militants in Gaza since October 2023, acknowledged firing in the area and said it was looking into the incident. It is one of the deadliest incidents yet in mounting violence as desperate residents in the Palestinian enclave struggle to get food. Video shared on social media showed around a dozen mangled bodies lying in a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Witnesses interviewed by Reuters said Israeli tanks had launched at least two shells at a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the main eastern road through Khan Younis in the hope of obtaining food from aid trucks that use the route. "All of a sudden, they let us move forward and made everyone gather, and then shells started falling, tank shells," said Alaa, an eyewitness, said at Nasser Hospital, where wounded victims lay sprawled on the floor and in corridors due to the lack of space. "No one is looking at these people with mercy. The people are dying, they are being torn apart, to get food for their children. "Look at these people, all these people are torn to get flour to feed their children." Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition. Casualties were being rushed into the hospital in civilian cars, rickshaws and donkey carts. It was the worst death toll in a single day since aid resumed in Gaza in May. In a statement, the Israeli military said: "Earlier today, a gathering was identified adjacent to an aid distribution truck that got stuck in the area of Khan Younis, and in proximity to IDF troops operating in the area. "The IDF is aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd's approach. The details of the incident are under review. "The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops." Medics said at least 14 other people were also killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes elsewhere in the densely populated enclave, taking Tuesday's overall death toll to at least 73. The Hamas-run health ministry said 397 Palestinians, among those trying to get food aid, had been killed and more than 3,000 were wounded since late May. The incident was the latest in nearly daily large-scale killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory it had imposed for nearly three months. Reuters
Arab News
03-06-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Palestinian appeals for blood donations unanswered in Gaza due to widespread hunger, malnutrition
LONDON: Palestinian medics are facing challenging conditions while treating patients and the injured in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli attacks in the coastal enclave. Health and medical staff have reported to the Wafa news agency that their appeals for community blood donations have gone largely unanswered due to widespread hunger and malnutrition, while life-saving resources are rapidly depleting in many hospitals. Nearly 2 million Palestinians face an imminent risk of widespread hunger as Israel has mostly restricted access to sufficient humanitarian aid since it resumed its military actions in March. Hospitals across Gaza are experiencing a critical shortage of essential medications, surgical supplies, and diagnostic imaging equipment, hindering doctors from carrying out emergency procedures necessary to save lives, Wafa added. Operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency departments are struggling under the pressure of a growing number of critically injured patients, and fuel is running out to generate power. On Monday, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza revealed that 41 percent of kidney failure patients have died since October 2023 amid ongoing Israeli attacks and restrictions on humanitarian and medical aid. Israeli forces destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Center in northern Gaza over the weekend, one of the few specialized facilities providing kidney dialysis to 160 patients.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Susan Sarandon and Frankie Boyle among signatories urging BBC to air Gaza film
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and comedian Frankie Boyle are among hundreds of signatories calling on the BBC to air a Gaza documentary on the stories of Palestinian medics working amid Israeli bombardment which the corporation has delayed showing. Figures from across the film, TV, journalism and cultural sectors have signed their name in an open letter urging BBC director general Tim Davie to air the unreleased documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire. The letter has been sent on behalf of the UK Screen Industry, made up of a 'group of concerned film and TV professionals'. The documentary, which includes eyewitness accounts from frontline Palestinian health workers in Gaza and documents attacks on hospitals and clinics, was due to air in January. But it was delayed by the BBC until an ongoing review into a different programme in the region was completed. The BBC pulled the documentary How to Survive a Warzone in February after it emerged its 13-year old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The letter, signed by more than a dozen anonymous BBC staff, said: 'This documentary was scheduled to air in January but has since been indefinitely delayed. It has undergone rigorous editorial scrutiny. It has been fact-checked and signed off repeatedly, and yet the BBC refuses to set a broadcast date. 'This is not editorial caution. It's political suppression. The BBC has provided no timeline, no transparency. Such decisions reinforce the systemic devaluation of Palestinian lives in our media. 'It's hard not to conclude that the BBC's gatekeeping is rooted in racism. The message is clear: Programmes about the ongoing genocide, told from Palestinian perspectives, are held to a different standard. 'Every day this film is delayed, the BBC fails in its commitment to inform the public, fails in its journalistic responsibility to report the truth, and fails in its duty of care to these brave contributors.' Also among the 600 or so signatories are Channel 4 News international editor, Lindsey Hilsum, and actors Game of Thrones' Indira Varma, Killing Eve's Dame Harriet Walter, and Sweetpea star Olivia Cooke. Director Mike Leigh also added his name to the list along with actress Miriam Margolyes and Bend It Like Beckham's Juliet Stevenson. Ruhi Hamid, a filmmaker who signed the letter, said: 'As a documentary filmmaker, I know how much work, risk, and responsibility goes into telling the truth – especially in places like Gaza. 'When the BBC, a public service broadcaster, chooses to suppress a film that highlights the lifesaving work of doctors under siege, it doesn't just fail the filmmakers. It fails the public. 'It sends a message that some truths are too inconvenient to air, and that some lives – especially Palestinian lives—are less worthy of compassion or coverage. 'That's not just editorial judgment. That's a failure of journalistic integrity – and it's dangerous for our entire industry.' Rose Glandfield, a documentary editor who also signed the letter added: 'As a Jewish woman from a family of pacifists, I was raised with the belief that our humanity is defined by how we respond to the suffering of others, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or religion. Bearing witness to injustice and standing up for those in danger is not only a moral imperative, it is a core part of my identity.' The production company behind the new documentary, Basement Films, said they gathered 'searing testimony from multiple Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers' and are 'desperate' to confirm a release date. The broadcaster has responded to the delay and said it will release the documentary 'as soon as possible'. A BBC spokesperson said: 'We are committed to journalism which tells our audiences the stories of this war, including what is happening in Gaza. This documentary is a powerful piece of reporting and we will broadcast it as soon as possible. 'We have taken an editorial decision not to do so while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.' The BBC previously apologised over 'serious flaws' in releasing How To Survive a Warzone with Davies saying he lost 'trust' in the film after learning of the Hamas connection. It is understood that the BBC will respond to the letter in due course and will not cancel the documentary. The broadcaster launched a review into the film and has delayed the release of the new documentary with no current date in place for when it will air.
